Back in the old days of correspondence chess, if an arbiter was called in to determine a result, the two players would submit their analysis of the position. If White showed he knew the drawing line, the arbiter would declare the game a draw.

@bestovalltime - look up trebuchet -- white loses if he tries to go for the pawn.

That is absolutely correct. Dvoretsky called these positions, Mined Square position because whoever stepped up to the locked pawns last, their position is blown up.

The ideas that both sides would likely need to understand (and i am not certain I will get them all) are: Near, Distant and Diagonal opposition, triangulation, outflanking, Zugzwang and/or Zwiesenzhug (I never can speel that one right), Rule of corresponding squares and Trebuchet positions.

Taken sepereately, I can grasp all but the corresponding squares idea but to have an understanding of al these ideas, is still beyond me even after playing for 30 some odd years.

Both Dvoretsky and Hans Kmoch cover these ideas in their books, Dvoretsky's Endgame manual and Kmoch's Pawn Power in Chess. I have looked through both these books and though I have been told i could play and understand concepts at a Class B USCF level, the concepts still are foreign to me somewhat.

When you claim a draw / win by an arbiter, you don't have to just claim it. You have to provide analysis of what will happen to prove that you know how to play it.

In the current case, there are so many possibilities and no general idea that takes them all in account, so the players would never be able to explain the arbiter their claim so I let them play it out. (and substract time from the clock of the one who asked me to come )

When you claim a draw / win by an arbiter, you don't have to just claim it. You have to provide analysis of what will happen to prove that you know how to play it.

In the current case, there are so many possibilities and no general idea that takes them all in account, so the players would never be able to explain the arbiter their claim so I let them play it out. (and substract time from the clock of the one who asked me to come )

First, you didn't state who claimed the draw. If it is black, I would inform him that it isn't his turn and so he can't claim anything. If it is white, I check that the clock is stopped and ask him on what basis he's claiming a draw.

If it is rule 10.2 and that rule is in effect (it's a quickplay finish without increment, and white has less than two minutes), then I need to make a decision. First I inform black that this draw claim also counts as a draw offer, so he has until he makes his own move to decide whether he wants to accept.

Obviously, I won't accept the claim outright. This position can still be lost by white.

It is tempting to reject it outright, but as an arbiter I have nothing to lose by postponing my decision, on the off chance that black doesn't even try to win (in which case it would be correct to decide it is a draw).

So I announce I postpone my decision, give black two minutes extra time, and restart white's clock.

I will then stay to watch if at all possible (sometimes hard with many games) and make my decision after a flag falls. If white was making quick moves (not just waiting for his flag to fall...) and black wasn't trying to win, or white's flag has falling in a position that black can't realistically win anymore, it's a draw.

They may be confusing arbitration with the forgotten practice of adjudication. Many years ago, when pairings where done by hand, tournaments sometimes had people in position to adjudicate the outcome of a game. This helped with pairing speed. There's a great article in the current New In Chess about Bobby Fischer serving as the adjudicator for the Greater New York Open and challenging critics of his decisions to play the positions out against him.

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